Break Free from the Funk
by Srbr222
Summary: Bella had had an awful year. Edward, whom she has known for years is having a rough one too. Can the two of them help each other find the light at the end of the tunnel? M for future lemons. All human.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's note:**_

_Thank you all for reading! I hope you all enjoy! I'd love to hear back from you about any questions, comments, suggestions or reviews (PLEASE) you have. I plan on having another chappie up soon! Thank you all!_

I dug my spoon deep in my pint of Ben and Jerry's and left it there while I circled yet another wrong answer on my students' test. Who knew multiplication was so hard? I groaned internally. _Looks like another three weeks of multiplication for my kids! _

My roommate and best friend, Rosalie burst through the front door of our apartment with groceries overflowing in her arms. She kicked the door closed behind her and hobbled her way to the kitchen where Ben, Jerry and I were grading papers and dropped them noisily onto the counter. "Who the hell thought that three flights of stairs were a good idea?"

"They make this thing, it's called an elevator," I said, through my ice cream-filled mouth.

"It's been broken for the last week! Where have you been?" She shuffled around our kitchen, putting various groceries away. If you could really call them groceries. They mostly consisted of licorice, toaster pastries, frozen pizza, and coffee. It was amazing that the two of us didn't weigh six hundred pounds. But no, Rosalie had the perfect figure.

Rosalie was tall: five-foot-nine without heels. She was thin and leggy and had long, flowing honey-colored hair. Her blue eyes twinkled like she always knew something you didn't. She had fantastic, albeit expensive taste, from head to toe, always wearing something designer, something she could afford between her parents' money and her scholarships to graduate school while she worked toward becoming a sex therapist at UCLA.

On the other hand, I was shorter, five-foot-four on a tall day, curvier, and had brown eyes, kind of akin to the color of mud. I didn't really care about designer clothes, which was good considering my teacher's salary in a California public school.

"I guess I didn't notice. I've been taking the stairs, you know, getting in shape and all." I stood, capped the ice cream to put it back in its home in the freezer and dropped the spoon in the sink. "A week? Really?" I helped her put the remaining groceries away, taking a much needed break from my grading.

"Bella, you've been kind of out of the loop lately. You haven't even come out with Alice and me for like a month!" She looked at me accusingly. "It's Saturday! Have you even showered today? Never mind, I don't want to know."

I looked down at myself. I was wearing jeans and a comfy t-shit that I had accidentally dripped some ice cream onto. My wavy brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail but I hadn't bothered with makeup. "I've been grading papers! Really busy, shaping young minds, teaching them how to think for themselves and be independent!"

She was not amused. "You've been hiding," she accused, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting out her hip.

"That's ridiculous, Rose! What do I have to hide from?" I smiled widely and shoved past her to put some string cheese in the fridge.

"Ever since you and Jake broke up, you haven't been yourself. I know it was hard but it's been over a year and this dry spell of yours is doing awful things for my sex life." She leaned against the table. "Honey, you know it would be good for you to get out."

"I just have been busy and when I'm not busy, I'm tired." I shrugged and avoided her smart eyes.

"That's called depression. And it's perfectly normal, given what you went through. What he did? It was a really bad thing. But you need to realize that there are other people out there that love you and care about you and want to see you get better." She looked at me with her "therapist eyes" and watched me fold the cloth grocery sacks and shove them under the sink where they belonged.

I laughed slightly at her. "I am not depressed! Who said I was depressed? Do I look like a girl that's depressed?"

She stood, wet the corner of the dishtowel and began scrubbing at my ice cream stain. "How much ice cream have you had in the past month?"

In all honesty, I was still hurting. I had thought Jake was "the one." I was planning my future with him and when I woke up on my birthday, the year before alone in bed and he was in the guest room with one of my sorority sisters, Victoria. The double loss had left me feeling vulnerable and untrusting of nearly every person that I came across since. It took a lot for me to get back to being my old self around Rosalie and Alice, even though they had done nothing wrong and they had been there for me the whole time.

"Maybe I am in a little bit of a funk. I just need time," I sighed.

And then the front door banged open and in stormed my other best friend, Alice. Alice the oh-so-subtle, pixie of a woman, with a haircut to match her size in her jet black hair with green eyes. She was fun and normally wearing bright colors but today she was wearing a black skirt-suit with a white collared button-down blouse and she was carrying… was that a video camera?

"This is an intervention!" she yelled.

I swiveled my head to look over at Rosalie who was grinning like an idiot. "Are you kidding me?" I asked. I didn't think it was funny at all. I was kind of hurt that my friends had gone behind my back and decided that I needed "help" like that. I was doing fine on my own. I needed time.

"We want our Bella back!" Alice whined. "We miss you and you aren't getting better on your own."

"Turn off the camera," I said softly.

Alice slowly pulled the camera down and pushed the off button.

"Bella, we aren't trying to hurt you further. We're doing this because we care about you. Come on, go out with us tonight! We'll make it a Single Again party!" Rosalie was always looking for a reason to throw a party.

I thought about it for a second. _Maybe they're right. You haven't been out in a really long time. _"I guess," I mumbled.

Alice started bouncing up and down. "I'll do your hair!"

"I'll start calling people!" Rosalie and Alice both launched themselves at me for a hug, knocking us all on the kitchen floor.

"Okay, okay, we're all very excited. What time do I have to be ready?" I grumbled from my spot in the middle on the floor.

"Be ready to hit the door at eight!" Rosalie giggled and tickled me. I giggled too, even though I didn't want to.

"Alright! I have three more tests to grade and then I'll start getting ready." I looked up at the clock, noting that it was already five.

Alice jumped up on her feet and pulled me up while Rosalie used the kitchen table to pull herself up. Rosalie pranced to her room to make calls to invite people out. I grabbed my tests before being herded down the hallway by the tiniest pixie alive toward my room where I sat at my desk to finish my grading while she went through my closet, flinging clothes around, not stopping until she found the perfect outfit for me to wear to my mysterious Single Again party. By the time I was finished grading, she had found the perfect outfit: a long, ruched, one-shoulder black top with almost-black skinny jeans and cherry red patent leather pumps.

"I need a shower," I told Alice, standing and stretching. Grading papers was getting irritating. _Maybe I should start testing on Scantrons… _

"Thank God!" Alice said. "When you're done, get right back in here."

I grabbed my towels and headed to Rosalie's and my shared bathroom to take a shower. I adjusted the spray and when the water hit the right temperature, stripped down and stepped in. I rinsed off and threw some shampoo in my hair before shaving my right leg. When I was absolutely positive that I hadn't missed any spots, I rinsed out my hair, threw in some conditioner, and then shaved my left leg. I don't know why, that was just the way I did it. When my left leg was absolutely perfect, I rinsed my hair again and shaved everywhere else that needed shaving. Then I turned off the water because Southern California was still in a drought. I wrung out my hair and toweled off, taking a deep breath. I wondered if I was ready for a coming out of hiding, so to speak. _How well do they know you? They want what's best for you. _

I left the bathroom, steam billowing around me and went into my room, where Alice had changed into a sequin mini skirt that I think she stole from a Barbie, a tight hot pink tank top and black leather knee-high boots. Rosalie came into my room wearing a deep red mini dress and strappy heels.

While Alice and Rosalie did their makeup and hair, I blew my own hair dry and straight. Once I had finished, my friends sat me down and started tweezing, poking, prodding and even smushing at my face with various instruments of torture. I usually only wore small amounts of makeup but tonight, they were going to make me look fabulous weather I liked it or not. And to be honest, I liked it. By the time they had had their fun, it was time to leave. We just had enough time to grab something to eat from the kitchen before packing into Rosalie's Honda Civic.

Rosalie looked over at me once we had all gotten in and buckled up. "You ready for this?" she asked.

"I don't know, am I?" I asked.

Rosalie and Alice both giggled. "Ready or not, here we come!" Alice yelled.

**_Author's note (again):_**

_So, what do you think? Reviews would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Atuthor's Note:**_

_Well, no reviews (sadness!) but a few of you added me to alert lists so I had a "They really like me!" moment and got to work writing some more. I have some good news! Tomorrow is a holiday so hopefully I'll have another update tomorrow night! _

_And now: here we go! Back to the story!_

_All characters belong to... not me._

We got to our favorite Irish pub, Doolin's and parked in the small but nearly packed lot out front and pulled into one of the few spots left. I released my seat belt, took a deep breath and opened the door. I let Alice out and stared, wide-eyed at the bar.

"Bella, it won't bite you," Alice comforted and looped her mine in mine. She led me toward the bar as Rosalie joined our chain. I wasn't quite sure if it was meant to be a kind gesture or to keep me from running away.

One way or another, they got me to go into the bar. It was more crowded than usual, or maybe it was just that I hadn't been in a while. A DJ in the back corner was setting up a karaoke booth and as I looked around the room, I started to recognize most of the faces. My friends had really come through for me, getting more people than I'd realized that I missed to come out to see me.

"Bella!" A booming voice yelled from the far end of the bar. "Ed! Look, it's Bella!"

"Yeah, Em, Bella's here. She's the reason we all came," Edward explained to our enthusiastic friend.

I had known Edward since the beginning of High School. We were friends from the beginning and I'd had a huge crush on him. He had graduated a couple of years earlier than me and during my Junior year, he came back from the Marine Corps to recruit at our school and he and I became inseparable the whole time. This spurred a yearlong romance where I was very proud of my Marine. But then, it came to an end because I had issues and he was starting out as a Marine and the two didn't mix well. We stayed friends throughout my college experience and when he was stateside, we hung out a lot together because he was stationed in Camp Pendleton and I was at San Diego State University. A few months into my second semester and when Edward had been a Marine for a couple of years, he met Tanya and eight months later, they got married. They would have been separated because Tanya was in the Navy and somehow it made sense in their heads. After they got married, Edward and I only hung out when she was busy with work or with friends. She wasn't a big fan of me. Tanya was convinced that I wanted to get back together with Edward.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a giant bear hug from Emmet.

"Bella! We missed you!" he boomed, swinging me from side to side before setting me down. "You want a beer? You look like you need a beer." He left me to run over to the bar and order a beer for me.

Edward was next. He strolled over from his spot at the bar, hands in pockets, smiling sheepishly. "Glad you came out. I know it's been rough," he hugged me slightly awkwardly and looked over his shoulder to see Tanya coming out of the bathroom glaring at us. "Tanya missed you too."

I smiled softly, "I can tell."

Edward was about six feet tall and thin but he had muscles, thanks to the United States Marine Corps. He traded his formerly long hair for a regulation-short buzz cut but it was the same shocking copper color as ever. Underneath that shocking hair, was the deepest, most intense green eyes you've ever seen. He had a perfect nose and lips that I was sorry to say weren't mine to kiss anymore and a jaw that was squared and defined and strong and currently shaded by a thin layer of stubble. He never shaved if he wasn't working.

Emmet returned with a Blue Moon and handed it to me. "Drink up!"

I lifted the beer to him in a silent "cheers" before taking a long pull from it.

Tanya came over to our little huddle. "Hey, Bella. You over whatever happened last year yet?"

My eyes grew as big as saucers. Emmet looked at her like he was terrified of her, which was slightly funny considering his size. Edward's mouth dropped open before he murmured something into her ear behind her strawberry blonde hair.

"I am!" she exclaimed. "I'm asking about her well-being." She smiled a sickly smile at me. "Really, Bella, how are you doing?"

I sipped my beer again. "Uh, I'm doing a lot better," I mumbled.

"Glad to hear it," she turned and smiled up to Edward, almost to say "See? I can be nice. And then I'll stab the bitch."

"Bella!" Rosalie called from across the room.

Emmet gently pushed me over to her, but I turned my head in time to see Edward shake his head and pull Tanya outside of the bar.

"What is that bitch's problem?" Rosalie asked and took a long sip of her beer.

Emmet jumped in before I could answer. "Does it matter? She always has a stick up her ass."

I laughed, slightly surprised by his response.

Emmet was originally Edward's friend. By some twist of fate, the two of them managed to stay together all the way from boot camp through their stay in San Diego. He had joked around, saying I was his favorite ex of Edward's (something that we had to remind him constantly about: I was Edward's only ex since he had joined the Marines) and wondering when it was his turn to have a round with me. But then we all got together one night and he met Rosalie and had goo-goo eyes for her ever since. And they were so awkwardly perfect for each other.

She had the perfect cheerleader appearance and he had the look of the Quarterback. He was six-foot-three, all muscles, kind of like a nice Gaston. He had curly dark hair and twinkling bright blue eyes. His smile was infectious and it always made you feel like you were in on a joke that no one else knew about. He was like everyone's big brother. Well, I guess not like Rosalie's. That would be weird. Emmet was a protective type of friend that wouldn't ever let anything happen to you.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Alice said from behind us. "I think it's time for a little celebratory shot!" She set a small tray full of shot glasses filled with clear liquid on the tall bar table. "Patron for my girl who is back in action!" She passed everyone glasses. "Where did Edward go? Dammit! Did Tanya drag him out again?"

"Screw them!" Rosalie yelled over the noise. "This is about Bella and her getting back on the horse!" She looked around her for something and grabbed a random guy. "Hi! Are you single?" She asked him.

He shook his head slowly staring at her chest.

"Alright, buh-bye then," she told him and pushed him away before grabbing another random guy. "Are you single?" she asked again.

He grinned and nodded. "I'm Mike," he said, putting out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Rosalie," she said, not shaking his hand, only putting the extra shot in it. "This is Bella, she's newly single," she introduced us.

I smiled awkwardly. He grinned back and threw his arm around me. I was kind of afraid he was going to eat me.

Rosalie raised her small glass and was suddenly very serious. "I would like to make a toast to my best friend Bella…" she grinned impishly at me. "And her newly open-for-business vagina!"

I blushed brightly as everyone, including myself raised their glasses and took their shots. As the liquid heat poured down my throat, I thought about how things might change. This was a new leaf and if I could just get this Mike guy away from me, things might be alright.

_**Author's note (again):**_

_Well, whaddya think? Reviews would be awesome! Any thoughts that you have to share would be great!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note:**_

_I know, I know, it took me FOREVER! I started a new semester in school (after I got dropped from all of my classes and had to re-add all of them, ugh) and I'm in my brother's wedding and his bride-to-be had a few wedding meltdowns plus work and time go away and I suck. I'm sorry. Hopefully this will suffice as something to make up for the long wait. I loved all of the reviews and I'm so glad that I was added to so many alert lists! I'd love getting more feedback when you're all done with this chapter!_

_Not my characters, I wish they were.  
><em>

Three or four or seven tiny glasses later, I was feeling better. I didn't think anything could get me down, except maybe that suddenly I really wanted a Jack in the Box taco. Everyone was here to celebrate with me. These people loved me!

I slid onto a barstool at the bar. "Jazzy!" I yelled to my favorite bartender.

"Hey, Bells," he grinned and got out a glass to put ice and a clear liquid from his spigot in it. He set the glass in front of me. "Drink up!"

I took a tentative sip of the drink. Water? Why would he give me water? "Water?"

"You'll thank me in the morning." He smiled.

Jasper was a good guy. He had gone to school in So Cal like the rest of us but he was here from Texas. When he graduated, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He was full of southern hospitality and a southern drawl that you could feel. He looked like he belonged in California. He had sunny blond hair that waved and blue eyes that seemed to go on forever like the ocean. He was tall as Edward but thin, not as much muscle.

I rolled my eyes at him but drank it anyway. "Thank you."

Alice came over and sat next to me on the stool. "You ready for some karaoke?" she nudged me and then she noticed Jasper. "Hi, Jazz."She smiled shyly at him. Alice had a thing for Jasper, even though she'd never admit it. She wanted him to chase her and frankly Jasper wasn't very astute about the situation.

"I guess," I told her. "Bye Jasper!"

The karaoke announcer was speaking into the microphone, riling everyone up and suddenly, my name was called with Alice and Rosalie's. We all went up on the stage and awkwardly stood around waiting for the music to start. I had no idea what I would be singing. But when the music started, I recognized the song immediately. After the incredibly dirty nineties pop song that was mostly in French, the crowd cheered. I was feeling better after my liquid courage had hit my system and though I normally would have been embarrassed that everyone's eyes were on me but with the vodka that I had consumed, I was feeling great.

I walked down from the stage area to bump into Edward. "Edward! Hi!" I threw my arms around his neck in a hug.

"Hey, Bells," he laughed at me and helped steady me while I detangled myself from him. Walking was really hard.

"Where's Tanya?" I asked when I realized she wasn't next to him, glaring at me disapprovingly.

"She had to go home. She wasn't feeling well and she has to work early tomorrow morning." He wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Tomorrow's Sunday," I looked up at him expectantly.

He looked down. "Bella, I can't talk about it right now. It's complicated."  
>I frowned. It seemed like since he married Tanya, everything was complicated.<p>

Emmet came and put his arm around me and handed Edward a beer. "You're hogging the star of tonight's show, Eddie!" He grinned at me again and steered me back to the table where Alice and Rose were standing with that Mike guy. "You get back to the girls and we'll be there in a minute."

I looked up at him, questioning.

"It's okay; I just need to ask him something, no big deal." He smiled at me reassuringly and gently pushed me toward the table again.

I stumbled to the table. "Bella! Have a Stella!" Alice yelled, thrusting a beer into my hand. "Get it? Bella? Stella?" She giggled loudly and then snorted.

"Nice, Alice," Rosalie smirked at her; she was much more sober than we were as she was the designated driver.

Mike slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. "What do you think, Brittany? Can I get your number?" He grinned at me.

"It's Bella," I reminded him. "And I don't know that that's such a good…" I trailed off, seeing the disappointment in Rosalie's eyes.

Edward and Emmet rejoined the group, Em sliding between Alice and Rose and Edward taking the spot between Alice and me. I slowly scooted closer to Edward and away from Mike.

Unfortunately, I wasn't sly enough.

"Hey, baby, where are you going?" He asked, tightening his arm around me.

"Oh, I uh, have to pee?" I asked, stumbling closer to Edward, realizing suddenly that, holy crap, I was _really _drunk.

"I'll walk you over and then you and I can get out of here," he started to pull me toward the back of the bar. I started to panic.

"I can get there on my own." I pulled away and teetered on the heels that were too damn tall for anyone to reasonably walk in.

"Don't be stupid," he told me, gripping my arm.

I looked frantically around my friends for help but Emmet and Rosalie had left to go look through the Karaoke book and Alice and Edward had gone to the bar for another round of drinks. My subtle friends, trying to get me out there in the world, meeting new people. Possibly new rapists.

"I want to get away from you," I blurted out.

He smiled politely, "No you don't. I'm sure you're just saying that because you're drunk." He pulled me closer still and leaned in to kiss me.

I couldn't see or breathe and all I could think was how I wanted to get away and I needed someone familiar to save me and I blurted out the first name I could think into the crowded bar. "Edward!"

And he was there before Mike's lips could touch mine. "I think she said no," Edward said, pushing him away from me.

Mike still had hold of my wrist and as it twisted in his hand, it made a crunching noise.

Suddenly, Jasper was there, out of nowhere, grabbing Mike by the back of the neck. "I think it's time for you to get going, buddy," Jasper told him, ushering him to the door.

"You okay, Bella?" Edward asked me, lifting my wrist to examine it, probing gently to check for breaks.

"I think so," I mumbled. "I just want to go home."

He pulled me into his chest, ushering me toward the door. He took my jacket off the coat rack and draped it over my shoulders. "I'll take you home. Come on, you're okay."

With Edward's guidance, we made it to his car, a silver Volvo and he sat me in the passenger seat. He gently shut the door after me and jogged around to his side.

I buckled myself in and leaned my head against the window.

Edward pulled out his phone and tinkered for a second. "Just letting Rosalie know that I have you and I'm taking you home," he said, finishing his text and starting the car.

"I'm sorry I ruined everything," I mumbled quietly, fiddling with my hands.

"Bella, you didn't ruin anything." He pulled out of the parking space and out of the lot. "Trust me, you didn't ruin anything at all."

I sighed, my head still against the cool window and closed my eyes.

In what seemed like seconds, the car wasn't moving anymore and I was being lifted from the seat in the car. Edward carried me up the front walk and set me on my feet at the bottom of the first set of stairs to get up to my apartment.

"I've got you. Lean on me." He pulled my arm around his shoulders and guided me up the stairs to get to my apartment. When we had somehow made it to my apartment door where he picked me up again and carried me into the apartment and set me gently on my bed. He moved to the foot of my bed, pulled off my shoes and set them on the floor. "I'll be right back."

And that was the last thing I remembered until I woke up again a little bit later. There was a glass of water on my night stand next to my alarm clock that told me it was two thirty. I heard mumbling in the living room and decided to investigate.

"I don't know what happened, he seemed nice enough," Rosalie said.

"Yeah, he wasn't," Edward said to her. "But anyway, sorry I have to crash here, I just don't want to deal with Tanya tonight. She was pretty pissed when she left." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do about her."

"Don't think about it tonight. You can figure it out later," Rosalie said to him.

Clearly this conversation wasn't meant for me so I went to the bathroom and went back to bed.

_**Author's Note:**_

_Alright, guys, what do you think? I'm a review-whore, again. Love you all!_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Author's Note:_**

****_Okay, I was totally going to update sooner but my best friend turned 21 this weekend and my brother's bride-to-be had a wedding meltdown (her caterer canceled less than two months out!) and my mom had to go to the hospital plus truckloads of homework and a seminar for work. It was a long week. And this isn't our usual fluffy, funny chapter. This is a little bit of touchy-feely stuff. But it needs to happen. _

_Here we go! _

_I don't own anything except a car that's a year younger than I am that really needs an oil change._

The next morning I woke up with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I un-stuck it as best I could and felt around in my mouth. My teeth felt like they had bunny slippers on. I opened one eye to examine where I was. I seemed to be in my room. Slowly, painfully, I sat up, head pounding and realized that I was still wearing a crumpled and twisted version of what I had been wearing the night before. Deciding that needed to change, I got up and stripped and replaced the previous outfit with a comfortable t-shirt and yoga pants.

Once that was done, I felt much better and decided that it was time for breakfast and some Asprin so I went out to the bathroom to get some and then to the kitchen to make breakfast.

As I got into the kitchen, I heard hushed voices and smelled the most wonderful thing I had smelled in a long time: bacon.

"Morning," I mumbled, not really looking up as I grabbed a mug from the cupboard and filled it with coffee, creamer and sugar.

"Morning," Rosalie said, chipper.

"Morning," Edward said casually.

"Can you pass me the bacon?" I asked sitting at the table, then my head snapped up to attention. "Edward, what are you doing here?" I started running my hands through my hair, trying to make it look decent, though it looked like a haystack. Finally I decided to just throw it up into a ponytail with the hair tie I always have on my wrist.

"When I brought you home last night, I didn't want to leave you alone in case you needed something so I was waiting for Rosalie to get home and I must've fallen asleep." He looked down at his plate. "You want some eggs?" He stood and walked over to the fridge and pulled out the carton of eggs.

"Sunny side up, please." I glanced over at Rosalie who was sitting back in her chair, holding her coffee mug with her hands under her chin. She was staring at Edward with pursed lips.

"I'm going for a run," she said, standing suddenly, crossing to the sink swiftly and setting her mug in. Without another word, she left the kitchen and went to her room before the front door slammed loudly.

"What just happened?" I asked Edward who was poking at my eggs in a frying pan.

"Nothing," he said, plating my eggs and grabbing a fork from a drawer before setting it in front of me.

Even in my half-alive state, I knew that something was happening under my nose. I salted my eggs and looked up at him.

"What did I miss last night?" I asked casually.

"Well, after Tanya left, I went back inside and you were pretty toasted. There was that guy that was trying to get you to go home with him and you didn't want to and he grabbed your wrist and I got him off of you and took you back here and put you in bed and here we are." He grabbed a piece of bacon off of my plate.

I looked down at my wrist, which was bruised. Awesome. "Why did Tanya leave again?"

He looked at the floor. "She wasn't feeling good."

"Liar," I said gently.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a big puff, raking his hands through his copper hair, which I knew to be incredibly soft from those times in high school in the back seat of his dad's Taurus. "We had a fight. She was mad that I wanted to go out and see everyone. This whole thing is so stupid!" he smacked his hand on the table.

"Why was she mad that you have friends?" I asked and at some egg.

"You're going to laugh," he warned. "She's threatened by you. She thinks there's still something there," he looked up at me. "Stupid right?"

I nodded, swallowing hard. "Is that why you slept here?"

"Yeah, she told me not to bother going home." He shrugged.

I finished my eggs and bit my lip. _Tanya is scared of me,_ I thought. "Edward, can I ask you something?"

"Didn't really give me a choice, did you?" he smiled, crookedly.

"Be serious," I said and then I took a deep breath. "Are you happy? Like really happy?" I took a sip of my coffee.

"Of course I'm happy," he said. "I mean, I know that we fight a lot but I made a commitment."

"Are you in love with her?" I asked.

He looked down at the floor again. "I love her," he said. Somehow, it was like he was trying to convince himself. "I do."

I bit my lip at him. "Edward, you're one of my best friends and I hate seeing you like this." I rested my hand on his arm.

He recoiled immediately, glaring at me. "Yeah, Bella, who are you to talk about how to live life? What have you been doing for the past year? You sure have been making leaps and bounds, not caring about things that happened, just moving right along in life."

His words stung me and I looked up at him, wishing I could come up with something witty to say back that would hurt him just as bad but, let's face it, I wasn't on top of my game that day.

And then, just as quickly as he flipped to being angry, his eyes softened and he looked at me apologetically. "Zero to asshole in six seconds flat. Bella, I'm so sorry. I'm angry and Tanya is driving me insane but you don't deserve that."

"It's fine," I cleared my throat. "I have a lot of stuff to do today. Maybe you should go to Emmet's or something." I stood and put my dishes in the sink and fled to my room.

Edward stayed in the kitchen a few seconds too long and mumbled a quiet "Dammit." He followed me to my room. "Bella, I'm sorry, really."

"Edward, I haven't been trying to thrive this year, I've been trying to survive and it's hard enough as is. I can't have people making it harder. Please leave." And with that, I shut and locked my bedroom door in his face and crawled back into bed. I pressed a button on my radio on the nightstand, switching it on to drown out the sound of him walking out the front door and closing it behind him.


End file.
